


don't love me like he promised

by ShyAudacity



Series: Riverdale Prompt Fills [13]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Childhood Friends, Crying, Emotional Hurt, Holding Hands, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 21:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12418494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: Two weeks after he’s been arrested, FP Jones gets woken up at eight in the morning by a deputy telling him that there’s a phone call waiting for him.“I thought I didn’t get phone calls.” He remarks sleepily.The deputy says: “That’s what we told your kid.”This is the exact moment that he knows something is wrong.Three minutes later, FP is listening to Jughead relay everything that went on that morning. His stomach twists into a knot the moment that Jughead tells him that Fred Andrews has been shot.ORfredheads asked for Fredsythe and I was eager to oblige.





	don't love me like he promised

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jugheadjones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jugheadjones/gifts).



> Anyone: Hey, shyaudacity, why did you write this?
> 
> Me: Because I love Julia. That's why.
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from my boy by billie eilish.

Two weeks after he’s been arrested, FP Jones gets woken up at eight in the morning by a deputy telling him that there’s a phone call waiting for him.

“I thought I didn’t get phone calls.” He remarks sleepily.

The deputy says: “That’s what we told your kid.”

This is the exact moment that he knows something is wrong.

Three minutes later, FP is listening to Jughead relay everything that went on that morning. His stomach twists into a knot the moment that Jughead tells him that Fred Andrews has been shot.

_“Sheriff Keller thinks that this may have been a hit, like maybe somebody was targeting Fred… what do we do?”_

The last half of the question comes out on a whine; FP’s heart aches like never before. He spares a glance at the deputy overseeing the phone before whispering lowly into the receiver.

“Listen to me, Jug. Call the serpents; if one of them went rogue then somebody has to know already. Keep your head down, I don’t want you getting caught up in the middle of all of this. You hear me?”

 _“Yeah, I got it,”_   Jughead replies. _I’ll let you know if anything changes with Fred.”_

The line goes dead not more than a second later. FP drops his head against the wall. He’s barely allowed a moment of peace to wrap his head around everything before the deputy is putting cuffs on him again, escorting him back to the cell.

Once he’s alone, he can’t stop himself from going ballistic. This rage is like nothing that FP has ever felt before. In some sense, it doesn’t surprise him, the reaction at least. Even when they were teenagers and young kids, FP was always protective over Fred.

Once, when they were fourteen, a couple of seniors beat up Fred while he was walking home. When FP heard the news, he got into a fight with the three upperclassmen the next day. He was the only one who walked away from the altercation mostly unharmed. No one at school bothered him after that, and FP and Fred walked home together nearly every day until they graduated.

But this? This was something that he could have stopped, he could have kept Fred from getting shot. At least it feels that way. So, FP does what he does best, he shuts off his emotions, or at least he tries to. He lies down on his cot and stares at the ceiling until he feels completely numb, not even realizing that he’d begun to cry.

***

FP has known that he was different since he was sixteen, since Fred looked at him with a dopey, pot-induced smile. As soon as he figured out that he liked girls and boys, he also knew that he couldn’t tell anyone. Forsythe Sr. would have never let FP live to see another day if he so much as _thought_ his son was different in any way.  

When his old man finally kicked the bucket, the first person that he told was Fred, and then his wife Gladys. He never told anyone else after that, he didn’t have to. The only two people he’d ever really loved knew, and that was good enough for him.

***

By some small shred of grace, he’s allowed out to visit Fred while he’s still at the hospital. FP doesn’t ask why; he’s just glad that he’s given a chance. He keeps his head down as the deputy and the nurse lead him to the hospital room, ignoring the looks he gets from the people he passes in the hallway.

Archie is sitting at a sleeping Fred’s bedside when FP walks in. He rises to his feet upon his entrance; Archie doesn’t look at all surprised to see FP standing in front of him.

“H-Hey, Mr. Jones,” He stammers. “I was just about to go get a soda, d-do you want any-.”

“I’m good, but thanks, Arch.”

Archie just nods, mumbles something about being back in a few minutes on his way out of the door.

FP looks over his shoulder, then leaves the door open just enough that the deputy posted outside doesn’t get suspicious. Then, he drags the extra chair over to Fred’s bedside, looking over his shoulder once more before he slots their fingers together loosely. He wouldn’t dare do this in front of anyone else, not even his family. He’s too afraid of being judged.

A few minutes later, Fred’s glazed over eyes open slowly and look right at him. FP doesn’t miss the way that Fred’s fingers tighten around his own.

“I was askin’ when you were gonna come see me.” Fred mumbles.

_He asked for me. This little bastard just got shot and he fuckin’ asked for **me**._

“Well, you know me,” FP starts. “Never could leave you alone for too long. Besides… somebody has to keep an eye on you. Keep you outta trouble.”

Fred tightens his grip again, tugging on FP’s hand; it’s obvious now that he’s trying to stop himself from falling asleep.

“You always did take care of me.”

FP runs his spare hand up and down Fred’s forearm, watching his eyes droop shut.

“Damn right, Freddy… always will.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first time writing fredsythe, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
> 
> Hey! Thanks so much for reading my fic! If you liked it then please leave a comment or a kudos, they encourage me to write more. If you wanna talk about Riverdale then you can find me on tumblr as thejugheadchronicles (it's a sideblog, fair warning). Thanks again for reading my fic, have a great day!


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